Milos Raonic beats Stan Wawrinka, advances to quarters at Aussie Open
Posted January 25, 2016 6:05 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Milos Raonic reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open for the second year in a row by defeating 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 4-6, 6-3 Monday in a marathon match lasting three hours, 44 minutes.
The 25-year-old 13th seed becomes the first Canadian in history to get to the quarter-finals of all four Grand Slam tournaments.
Tennis Canada tweeted several congratulations to Raonic:
Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., will face Gael Monfils next, after the Frenchman beat Russian Andrey Kuznetsov 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4). He’s lost two of three matches against Monfils, beating him in 2011.
Both Raonic and Wawrinka entered their match with perfect records to start the year. Raonic beat tuned up for the Australian Open by beating Roger Federer for the trophy in Brisbane, while the Swiss-born Warinka won a pre-Open title this month in Chennai, India.
Raonic, who lost to the fourth seeded Wawrinka in their four previous meetings, improved to 18-5 in Melbourne and 47-19 at Grand Slams.
“I was trying to play in rhythm, dictate and control the centre of the court,” he said. “I was able to carry that through. I’m always looking for ways to get better.”
Raonic was cruising with a lead of two sets to love when his game suddenly derailed.
Wawrinka stormed back to win the third and fourth sets but Raonic was able to close it out in the fifth, finishing the match with 24 aces, 82 winners and five breaks of serve at the showcase Rod Laver Arena.
